Internet Desk: Indian shooters Apurvi Chandela and Ayonika Paul were way off the mark in the 10m Air Rifle Women’s Qualification, finishing way behind the leaders to bow out of the competition in the Rio Olympics on Saturday.
Chandela shot an overall 411.6 to finish 34th out of 51 competitors while Paul finished further down in 47th place with a total score of 403.
China’s Li Du topped the qualification with a sublime 420.7, setting up an Olympic record in the process.
The other seven shooters who qualified for the final were Barbara Engleder of Germany, Elaheh Ahmadi of Iran, Daria Vdovina of Russia, Virgina Thrasher of USA, Snjezana Pejcic of Poland and Siling Yi of China.
The expectations for a better show from the Indian duo of Chandela and Paul, who had won the gold and silver in the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, were dashed as they were found wanting in a top-class field.
Germany’s Barbara Engleder took the second spot with 420.3 while Iran’s Elaheh Ahmadi was third with 417.8.
Apart from the top three, a Russian, two Americans, a Croatian and another Chinese shooter completed the top eight line-up.